Guild Wars 2 Enters Closed Beta in China on March 11

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Guild Wars 2 Enters Closed Beta in China on March 11

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Fantasy MMO Guild Wars 2 makes its way to China next month, as the game enters closed beta on March 11, digital entertainment service KongZhong Corporation announced today.

This is the first time that ArenaNet’s MMO is releasing anywhere in Asia and is quite a proud moment for the studio.

“Chinese players will get the same premium MMO gaming experience that Guild Wars 2 players in North America and Europe enjoy, with consistent and timely content updates,” said ArenaNet boss Mike O’Brien.

Guild Wars 2 will follow the same subscription model in China, which it has been using in North America and Europe; which basically is that there is no subscription. Players in China will only need to purchase a copy of the game and then play on with no additional charges.

Guild Wars 2 China’s operation general manager Atlantis Lai said, “Given the game’s high quality and beautiful design, compared with free-to-play and time-based pay-to-play games, this business model, where players purchase the game once and then play it for as long as they wish with no subscription fee, has the highest chance to appeal to the broadest base of players in China.

As the most important and famous product in the 2014 China PC market, we believe Chinese players will also recognize Guild Wars 2 globally renowned quality.”

Those interested in signing up for the China-based beta period can do so here.

Guild Wars 2 was first launched in 2012, back when the free-to-play model was just kicking in. Many assumed the MMO to suffer in profits but the game did handsomely well by the end of its first fiscal year.

It sold 1 million copies prior to its release and then sold another million by the year’s end. New content to keep players busy in a free-to-play environment is the key here and ArenaNet has done well in doing just that with their recent conclusion of living world storyline.